Anna Elliott's Blog, page 5

Four!

My baby girl is four this week! Well, technically she is my older girl, but since I am in denial that neither she nor her 15 month old little sister are really 'babies' anymore, I am officially declaring her forever my baby girl.

I asked her tonight if she remembered being born. (This picture was taken just minutes after). She gave me a look–four years old and she already has a look!–and was like, Uh, No.

Ha. So much for all those books I read with titles like 'Children Remember Birth.' But I remember. I remember bouncing on my yoga ball all through the night and then looking down at her, all red and wrinkly as I lay in bed SO glad to have labor over. Not that it wasn't beautiful and great. We'd been planning to name a girl 'Samantha', but I took one look at her and knew from the first instant I laid eyes on her she was Isabella. My poor husband! That name hadn't even been on our list of possibles, so he was a little surprised.

She was born SCREAMING. I'd also read all those books about how the first hours after birth are such a lovely bonding time. Bella screamed at the top of her lungs for 45 minutes with her eyes screwed up tight shut. Then she fell sound asleep. I remember lying in bed listening to her breathe on one side of me in the bed and Nathan breathe on the other side and thinking, Holy cow, what have I done?

(Here's me with my midwives. This is when she'd finally fallen asleep.)

There haven't been too many times in my life when I've heard God's voice, but I heard it then. I remember lying there and I heard–I truly did–hear God laugh, and tell me, This is the baby you want.

And you know, God was right. She never cried like that ever again. Actually she would probably win the award for world's easiest, most peaceful and happy baby. Not that I wouldn't have loved her just as much if she'd had colic, but she was easy on us, for sure.

Four years later, I just watched her carefully make one bracelet from a kit someone gave her for herself, and then just as carefully and totally of her own accord make the other one (there were 2) for her baby sister. She's still–always–the baby I want. Happy birthday, baby girl!

The Endless Cold

When I was in middle school, toys called 'germs' were all the rage. They were these rubbery plastic depictions of, well, germs. Thanks to the miracle of google image search, I can share one with you:

As I recall, my mom refused to cave in to my pleas that she buy me some of these little guys. Something about a rubbery plastic germ that does nothing except sit there looking like a rubbery plastic germ not being worth $10? I'm sure no one looking at the above picture can understand her reluctance!

But the universe has now gotten its revenge for any resentment I may have felt, because if you were to look at my house with a microscope, it would look like a convention of these creatures. Probably everyone out there with toddlers is nodding sagely at this, but we seem to experience the endless cold phenomenon from like September to April. It's kind of like that movie 'Endless Summer' except with more Kleenex and screaming babies. My girls aren't even in preschool or daycare or anything–yet we're barely over one cold before we're down with the next. How? How do you make it stop?

So this is why I've been absent from blogging lately. But it's not all bad news, it's still autumn here, and the weather has been glorious. Bella decided to be a black cat for halloween (almost like she doesn't trust me to pick for her after the whole lobster costume incident!). And today I'm over at Writer Unboxed blogging about some of the behind-the-scenes debates that go on when working with an editor. Stop by!

(Bella as a black cat, Vivi as a baby wearing pink pajamas–she was sick again that night, poor sweetie. And me as a yoga-pants wearing mommy. I definitely think my costume was the most realistic!)

In Defense of NaNoWriMo

For those unfamiliar with the term, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. In the words of the founders: National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Now, let me first off say that I don't do NaNoWriMo. The philosophy of it is to write 50,000 words without editing, without looking back or pausing to regroup and revise. The motto is '30 days and nights of literary abandon'. And since I'm sort of more of the 'control freak' school of writing than the 'literary abandon' one, my personal brain would explode if I tried to write that way. But tens of thousands do participate in growing numbers every year–and love it–and find it fuels a love of writing that lasts all the rest of the year.

Yet this year, for the first time, I'm seeing SO many articles and blog posts and opinion pieces criticizing NaNoWriMo. Why? Is it just because it's gotten bigger and more people are aware of it? Are we all in crummy moods because every time we turn around there's another article about how the publishing industry is melting down and no one is buying books anymore? I don't know. But even I–a non-NaNo-er–feel like I should come to it's defense.

First off, I've seen the argument that writing a book this quickly without looking back is inevitably going to lead to a bad book. Which, honestly and for most people, is probably true. But writing is re-writing. No writer that I've ever met or heard of writes a sparklingly perfect first draft. My own first drafts are hideously, embarrassingly dreadful. Yes, if you're seriously pursuing publication, a NaNoWriMo book is likely going to require huge revisions before it's ready to start sending out to agents. But that's true of any book, NaNo-ed or otherwise. And what if you're not looking to get published? What if it's just for fun?

That leads me to the criticism that I found much more disturbing: I just read an opinion piece saying that writing should not be a hobby that's picked up one month of the year and then put down. What? Why not? I'm never going to make a career out of running or dancing or embroidering or cooking. But I'd be kind of annoyed if a professional athlete or prima ballerina or chef started telling me I couldn't enjoy any of those things as a hobby. Writing is just like any other form of creative expression–shouldn't there be room for people to pursue it in every degree of intensity and in every way? If you have stories twitching at the ends of your fingertips asking to be told, why should it matter whether your goal is to write full-time as a job or whether you pick it up one month of the year just for fun?

Writing is my dream job, and I'm so, so lucky to get paid to tell myself stories I'm passionate about. Even though I don't participate, I love it that NaNoWriMo gives other people the incentive to tell their stories and experience the thrill of seeing their words on the page. Anything that gets this many people excited about writing and books and creates so much positive energy around the process can only be a good thing, I say.

Happy Halloween!

Okay, it's not quite Halloween yet, but I wanted to share this picture of my older girl's very first Halloween. Three years ago, now. Wow.

We actually got this costume for her when she was a tiny newborn. It was on the super marked down clearance rack (she was born in November) and Nathan took one look and knew he couldn't live without the opportunity of dressing his daughter up like a lobster. As I'm sure you can understand. Clearly.

So here is the result, taken on her first Halloween when she was just shy of being a year old:

Ah, I love this picture. I love it SO much it should be illegal in five states. Note the lobster's resigned glower and slightly curled upper lip. We call this Bella's "Please tell me my real parents will be here to pick me up soon" look.

I also figure this is excellent leverage for when she's a teenager: Home by 11 pm, or I will post the lobster picture on my blog again! Come to think of it, I should really dig out the lobster suit and make sure I get a picture of her little sister in it, too.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

On Faith, Morgan, and the Otherworld

Finally I have a moment to write the post I intended last week, when I got distracted by autumn and maggots wriggling across my living room floor. (Thanks to my husband, the maggots are gone. But it's still autumn! And I'm so glad, the weather is gorgeous here just now).

This post is partially covered by my answer to one of the discussion questions at the end of Dark Moon, but I wanted to cover it in a bit more detail here, too, because I've been hearing the question from readers and because it's so near to my heart.

Essentially, I hear people wondering, What's the deal with Morgan's voice in the books? She narrates the prologues and has 'coversations' with Isolde. But is she real? Is she a ghost? A figment of Isolde's imagination?

I don't usually post about my own religious beliefs–I mean, I'm happy to talk if anyone asks or is curious, it just doesn't usually come up–but since it's kind of part of my answer to this question, I'll explain that my own beliefs are those of the Baha'i Faith, which has at its heart the belief in the oneness of God, the oneness of the human family, and the oneness of religion. The sixth century, when Dark Moon of Avalon is set, was a time of religious change in Britain, a time when the old nature-centered pagan beliefs were being absorbed into the new Christian faith. One of my favorite parts of writing the books was exploring the intersection of those beliefs, the ways in which the Christian and the pagan belief systems could be seen to worship a single unified Divine, albeit in very different ways.

Morgan, for me, represents the old pagan faith and the Celtic belief system in which the Otherworld was no far distant heaven up in the sky, but a place separated from our own world by the thinnest of veils. A cave, a lake, a river, all could be portals to this Otherworld. I think Isolde herself stands very much at the crossroads of the old ways and the new, and part of her journey through Twilight of Avalon and Dark Moon is to find her own faith system, to understand both the Christian and Pagan beliefs and see the wisdom in each.

So whether Morgan is part of the Celtic Otherworld or an answer to a more Christianized version of prayer, my answer to the question of, Is she real? is: She is absolutely very real to Isolde.

Autumn!

It's autumn here! I love autumn. It's quite possibly my favorite season. I love the leaves changing colors and the crisp autumn smell in the air. The bright, clear-blue autumn skies and the misty, foggy mornings. Mittens and apples and cozy warm sweaters.

And I love how having little ones around makes even something like the changing seasons new again, seeing it all through my girls' eyes. I notice so many things I'd never thought about or realized before. For example, did you know that there must be some sort of fly that lays eggs inside acorns? And that if you, say, have a 1 and 3 year old who collect acorns in buckets and carry them home to make a collection, the eggs will hatch in the night and you will wind up with little wriggling maggots all over your living room floor?

You really don't want to know how I know that.

But I really do love autumn!

Today I'm over at Writer Unboxed, blogging about ways of incorporating backstory into your novel. Stop by!

I have a blog post I've been meaning to write all week all about Isolde's relationship with her grandmother Morgan and Morgan's voice in Dark Moon of Avalon. Complete with research and thoughts on the Celtic view of spirituality and life after death and the Otherworld.

And instead I've got maggots and a redirect to Writer Unboxed. Hmmm. That may say something about my life as a writer if only I think about it long enough. But no time now. I've got to go for a walk with my girls in the crisp autumn air and watch Bella climb trees and crunch leaves under our feet. I think we'll leave the acorns outside, though.

Extras!

I have a whole list of mentions and announcements that I should have made long ago, but . . .

(Me still buried under a pile of curly-haired girls. Who have apparently decided that napping is for sissies).

They're now out with their dad collecting acorns in buckets on our lawn, though, so I have a minute to type. First of all, I have a new page on the site with an interactive family tree of my Arthurian characters. Many have pointed out that all the relationships in the Twilight of Avalon...

Speak Out

I mostly try to keep my blog a positive, controversy free zone where I talk about my books and how cute my kids are, not necessarily in that order. But there are a couple of buttons that can be pushed to make me step outside of that. And unfortunately Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor of management at Missouri State University, jumped on one of those buttons with both feet this past week.

Many may have heard of this already, but Speak is a novel by acclaimed young adult novelist...

Meet Team Elliott

It's publication day! Dark Moon of Avalon is officially out in the world!

I get asked very often about how, as a mother of 2 young children, I manage to do it all. The answer is, I don't. I really don't. I may write the books, but for the rest, I have my entire family standing behind me backing me up and reaching, octopus-like, for all the balls I could never keep up in the air on my own. They're so great. I can't honestly remember who came up with the name Team Elliott. Mum? Dad?...

Dawn of Avalon

It's here! It's here! Dark Moon of Avalon will be officially released tomorrow, and to celebrate I'm giving away a prequel story, Dawn of Avalon, for free download here. It will soon be up on the Kindle store and other e-book stores around the web, too.

And click here to watch the Dawn of Avalon trailer:

The internet and the development of e-books have truly revolutionized the publishing world, and now offer so many new ways for writers to connect on-line with readers. It's fantastic!...